Media Center
Check out our latest press releases, media, and news clips. For inquiries, email komensik@dbbcma.org.
Statements & Releases
In the News
"Pressley, Welch Unveil Historic Bill to Guarantee Right to Vote for Incarcerated Citizens"
Press Release, December 6, 2023
"This filing shows that the fight to end felony disenfranchisement happening here in Massachusetts as well as all over the country is not going unnoticed by members of Congress." Read more.
"Boston City Council Signals Support For Giving Incarcerated Felons Right To Vote"
Brendan McDonald, New Boston Post, May 12, 2023
"Boston city councilors have signaled their support for a ballot initiative allowing prisoners convicted of felonies in Massachusetts to vote." Read more.
"It’s time to restore felon voting rights"
Kristina Mensik and Adam Eichen, Commonwealth Magazine, May 9, 2023
"Notably, over 70 percent of 18-29 year-olds — those who were too young to cast a ballot in 2000 — approve of the restoration of voting rights behind the wall." Read more.
"Bill that would restore prison voting rights in Mass. advances out of election laws committee"
Sam Drysdale, State House News Service, April 28, 2023
"'I was thrilled to hear the news of this vote,' Sean "Truth" Evelyn, DBBC organizer, former AACC member, and founder of the Explanations from Exile Project, said in a statement." Read more.
"Criminal justice advocates pursue voting rights for inmates with felony convictions in Mass."
Sam Drysdale, State House News Service, April 7, 2023
"Miranda and Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville filed legislation (S 8 / H 26) that would lift the Constitution's ban on voting for people incarcerated on felony convictions." Read more.
"Proposed amendment to state constitution could give prisoners back their right to vote"
Ivy Scott, Boston Globe, April 6, 2023
"The right to vote for prisoners was revoked in Massachusetts in 2000." Read more.
"I Was Unconstitutionally Disenfranchised in Jail."
Corey "Al-Ameen" Patterson, Democracy Docket, October 19, 2022
"Ensuring that incarcerated eligible voters can use their political voices at the ballot box is a first, but critical step to guaranteeing the expertise of directly-affected communities is part of the policymaking process, and building a more equitable democracy." Read more.
"With new requirements, groups want early action to boost jail, prison voting access in Massachusetts"
Chris Lisinski, State House News Service, October 5, 2022
"Massachusetts corrections officials face new requirements starting next year to ensure that eligible incarcerated Bay Staters have access to ballots and voter materials, and a group of advocates want sheriffs to take those steps sooner." Read more.
"New Massachusetts Law Requires Jails to Expand Ballot Access"
Khawla Nakua, Bolts Magazine, July 22, 2022
""Corey “Al-Ameen” Patterson sat inside the Suffolk County jail in south Boston as Barack Obama ran for president in 2008. Paterson badly wanted to vote for the first Black president and, as a pretrial detainee, he was eligible to cast a ballot, but he didn’t know that at the time. He said nobody mentioned the possibility of voting from jail in the months before the election." Read more.
"Massachusetts is not the democratic bastion you think it is"
Kristina Mensik, Cognoscenti, October 18, 2021
"Achieving full democratic participation in Massachusetts will require that we end the disenfranchisement of all citizens in prisons and jails." Read more.
"Activists seeking voter protections for inmates"
Anna Lamb, Bay State Banner, October 7, 2021
"The group that gathered via Zoom Monday morning included state Sens Adam Hinds and Sonia Chang-Diaz, who have been a part of crafting the legislation together with Rep. Liz Miranda, whose name is on the House bill. Legislators were joined by gubernatorial candidates Professor Danielle Allen and Rep. Ben Downing, as well as Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia, and representatives from Mass POWER, Neighbor to Neighbor and The Sentencing Project." Read more.
"Mass. Democrats Push For More Ballot Access For Incarcerated Voters"
Mike Deehan, GBH, October 4, 2021
"Advocates for the rights of the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated want the Senate to incorporate stronger language into their voting reform bill to ensure that eligible voters in jail can cast ballots and that all prisoners have access to voter enrollment, information about elections and their own eligibility for voting." Read more.
"Same-day voter registration can help invigorate democracy"
Jon Cohn and Kristina Mensik, Commonwealth Magazine, September 28, 2021
"Given that nearly 60 percent of Massachusetts’ disenfranchised incarcerated voters are Black or Hispanic and low-income, jail-based voting reform is critical for protecting the political power of exactly those groups who are the targets of voter suppression." Read more.
"Statewide coalition has been fighting to ensure inmates’ voting rights"
Kristina Mensik, Boston Globe, October 22, 2020
"Our state needs a system in place to ensure that incarcerated people who maintain the right to vote on paper may exercise it in practice. We hope to have the support of our elected officials in this fight next session." Read more.